


Back To The Start

by Mars_and_Moon



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Comfortably Bisexual Dean Winchester, Cross-Posted on Wattpad, Dean is Bad at Feelings, Everyone Has Issues, Everyone Is Alive, F/M, Fake Marriage, Gay Castiel, Gen, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Openly Bisexual Dean Winchester, The Author Regrets Everything, The Author Regrets Nothing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-26
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-11-01 23:16:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10932057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mars_and_Moon/pseuds/Mars_and_Moon
Summary: Cas just wants to stay away from his home town and a certain green-eyed boy forever but the universe apparently has other plansorThe high school reunion au with twist nobody asked for





	1. prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Edited by @writing_way_too_much  
> Thank you for making this w a y better then before

July 28, 1996

[Dean’s P.O.V.]

_ It’s a nice day, not too hot _ , Dean thought. He leaned back in the chair on his front porch and took a drink of water.

His thoughts were interrupted when Charlie, his best friend, walked up to him, holding something behind her back. 

"Charlie are you gonna try to put lipstick on me again?" Dean asked, suspicious. The redhead just smiled and pulled out what was behind her back, a blindfold, and showed it to Dean before saying, "Dean, put this on. Don't ask any questions, just do it.”

Dean looked at her like she had two heads. "Why?" 

"I just said no questions, Dean," Charlie said, taking matters into her own hands and tying the blindfold around Dean's head. 

"Charlie, are you trying to kill me?" 

"Nope, just need to do something so my planning doesn't go to waste," Charlie said, smiling widely. She guided Dean to her car and he sat, somewhat uncertainly, in the passenger's seat. 

"How long will this take?” Dean asked, starting to realize that she wouldn't say anything more. Charlie refused to say a word.

They drove for about ten minutes. Dean had a pretty good inner compass, but he got completely lost after two minutes. “Where are you taking me?” he asked.

“Not saying anything,” Charlie replied.

“How long is this gonna take? I was busy doing nothing.”

“You’ll just have to see, Dean.”

Dean sighed and leaned back, crossing his arms.

"Okay, Dean, you can stop your interrogation. We're here," Charlie said, sounding slightly annoyed. She took Dean’s elbow and walked him into a house.

“Where are we?” Dean asked for about the fifth time.

“My house,” Charlie said. "Take off the blindfold and put on the suit," Charlie said. She left him alone in the room. 

Dean took off his blindfold to see the suit he’d worn to prom on the bed, as well as a green and blue rose thing. Was that what a corsage was? "What is going on?" Dean whispered to himself, but decided to trust Charlie and got changed.

Dean left the room, only to see Sam standing there with a huge goofy grin identical to Charlie’s on his face. “Dean, you look great. Now c’mere," Sam said grabbing Dean's arm. 

"Hang on, Sammy, what's happening?" Dean asked. Sam didn’t answer, just pulled him into the backyard. Dean saw his boyfriend, Cas, standing in the grass and allowed himself to relax. It couldn’t be too bad if Cas was there...in a suit...why was he in a suit?

Cas walked forward and Sam let him grab Dean's hand. "Dean, you look...amazing. I know this is short notice, but--" Cas stopped talking and pulled something out of his pocket. "--I love you and you know I'm leaving for college, so one thing before I go. Will you marry me?" 

Cas held his breath, alternating between looking at the ring and Dean's face. Dean looked like he had gotten hit by a bus. 

"W-what, Cas?"  _ Is this really happening? Please tell me this is real. _

"Marry me, Dean. I got Charlie to plan it and Kevin will marry us," Cas said staring into Dean's green eyes, the eyes he had fallen in love with. 

"Cas, this...this isn't legal. Is this even real?" Dean asked. 

Cas just looked into Dean's eyes, giving him a perfect “who cares” look through the eye contact. Dean nodded and started to smile, and he found he couldn’t stop. 

"So am I marrying you two, or what?" Kevin asked.

Uncertainly, Dean replied, "Yeah, Kevin. Um, two things everyone: one, since when can Kevin marry people? And two, don't we need rings?"

Charlie answered him. "Dean, nobody said this was legal in the first place, so who cares if Kevin can't marry you legally? Cas has rings. This has been planned for months. We’re all gonna watch." 

"Let's get you married, Dean," Sam said, showing Dean over to a small altar.

The only thing Dean could think was  _ oh my god I'm getting married to Cas the love of my life. _

Cas's mind was full of  _ I'm going to college, I’m getting married to Dean Winchester. I'm on fire. _

Kevin started the wedding, giving a wedding speech that most people tuned out, and when the vows came, Dean went first.

"Cas, you are my best friend, I've known you since we were five. You were my first kiss, you were my first date, and I can still remember the first time I realized I liked you. I was thirteen and you came to school with your messed-up hair and old trench coat your dad gave you, and, I don't even know, you stood there talking about the math homework and I felt butterflies for the first time. I couldn't talk to you. That's when I fell for you, and man, every day I just keep falling more and more. I love you, Cas, more than words can say, more than anything. I really should thank Charlie for locking us in a closet. My life would mean nothing without you, Cas. You are the light to my dark, the heaven to my hell, any other cliche you can think of, we fit it. I love you so much, my blue-eyed angel."

Dean finished, eyes watering. Charlie, Sam, Kevin, and Gabe all had tears forming. Cas simply looked at him before beginning to talk. 

"Dean, what the hell? How can I top that?" Cas said. Everyone laughed.

"Okay, Dean Winchester. I love you and I always will. You talked about how you fell for me, but, Dean, I fell for you, even more. You made me happier than anyone else ever has, even when we were just friends. Whenever we fought you would walk over to my house with something to give, if it was candy or binge watching my favorite show...anything, Dean. You....you just make me want to hug you all the time and I don't know what I would do without you--you make me whole. You're my other half, like two souls that found each other in other lives and just keep finding each other no matter what, even after worlds pull us apart we always come back. I love you, Dean, you are my reason for being right here, right now. I think that we could be torn apart right now, with our memories taken away, and we would still find each other."

After Cas finished, everyone was crying.

Kevin said, "Castiel Jimmy Novak, do you take Dean Henry Winchester to be you partner in sickness and in health, bad days and good, for as long as you love each other?" 

"I do. I take Dean for all of that and so much more," Cas said as he put the ring on Dean's finger.

Kevin then turned to Dean. "Dean Henry Winchester, do you take Castiel Jimmy Novak to be you partner in sickness and in health, bad days and good, for as long as you love each other?”

Dean took a deep breath, not wanting to cry. "I do, I really do. Cas, I love you," Dean said, smiling and crying at the same time. 

"Okay, then. By the power of me not being a real pastor, I now name your partners. You may kiss each other," Kevin said.

Dean and Cas didn’t need any more prompting, and they kissed once, sweet and soft. 

"Now it's time to dance," Charlie said. She went inside to grab her walkman and put on The Lettermen "When I Fall In Love."

_ When I fall in love, it will be forever _

_ Or I'll never fall in love _

Dean and Cas smiled at the song, one of their favorites, and started to dance.

_ In a restless world like this is _

_ Love is ended before it's begun _

_ And too many moonlight kisses _

_ Seem to cool in the warmth of the sun _

_ Dean started to sing along _

_ When I give my heart, it will be completely _

_ Or I'll never give my heart _

_ And the moment I can feel that _

_ You feel that way too _

_ Is when I fall in love _

_ When I fall in love with you _

As the song ended, Dean and Cas had no space left between their bodies, and Dean was singing. Everyone clapped and whooped, Gabe the loudest of all. Then a chant started up.

“KISS! KISS! KISS!”

They did, and nothing had ever felt so right. 

"Dean come with me when I leave for college," Cas offered. Dean, overwhelmed, simply nodded and buried his face in the crook of Cas’s neck.

[Cas’s P.O.V.]

A month later, a lazy month filled with laughter and silly dates and kisses under the stars, Cas was at the airport, waiting for Dean.

“C’mon, Dean, I don’t wanna miss our flight,” Cas muttered, beginning to get anxious.

He waited as long as he possibly could.

Dean never showed up.

Cas almost missed his flight.

He wanted to cry as he stared out the window at the expanse of blue sky, but he still had a little hope.  _ Maybe Dean’s driving. He hates to fly. _

Cas waited and waited.

Dean never came.

And it was on the day college started that Cas swore he was never going back to that town and never again wanted to see the green-eyed boy who said he loved him.


	2. one

Twenty Years Later: July 7, 2016 

[Cas’s P.O.V.]

Cas’s alarm clock blared at an indecent hour and woke him up. He reluctantly got out of bed and got ready for work. He had always wanted to be a pediatrician and work with children, so he had gone through all the years of medical school required and had a good, steady job. 

As Cas walked out of his bedroom into the kitchen, his phone went off. He glanced over at the screen to see a text from Charlie.

Charlie:  _ 'sup Cassie _

Cas:  _ Charlie it's Cas _

Charlie:  _ Whatever anyway did you hear _

Cas:  _ What this time _

Charlie:  _ It’s our 20-year high school reunion _

Cas read the message, then read it again. His mind screeched to a halt and he sat down right on the floor, leaving his breakfast on the counter. Adrenaline shot through his body and he took a couple deep breath, trying to regain control of himself. He was  _ not _ thinking of stolen kisses and movie nights and green eyes he could lose himself in forever.

Charlie:  _ Cas are you alive _

Cas:  _ Will he be there? _

Charlie:  _ Most likely, but that shouldn't stop you from coming _

Cas:  _ I have to get ready for work. Bye _

Charlie:  _ Okay bye Cas _

Cas didn't text her back, just got his breakfast and finished his morning routine. But he couldn’t stop thinking about him and his impossible eyes and soft lips and everything he’d ever said. He was finally thinking about that day, so long ago, and his entire body wanted to cry. He heard his voice saying the sappy vows.

_ Cas, you are my best friend. I fell for you, and man, every day I just keep falling more and more. I love you, Cas _ . 

But then Cas remembered that he left Cas there alone, never showed up to the airport and never contacted him, left him to wallow in his heartbreak, and Cas hardens, forms the familiar shell back around himself, and resolves to not think about him any more. God knows he’s done enough of that.

Cas finished getting ready and went to his car, not paying attention to his surroundings and almost getting run over by a biker and then a group of runners in bright neon shorts.

When he finally got to his car, he got in and didn’t do anything for a moment, just sat there cursing New York's traffic on the road and sidewalk.

Cas finally made it to work. He said hello to the other doctors and began to treat his patients. At ten p.m. he left work and slammed off the radio when a slow song begins to play. He hoped he hadn’t messed up with any patients. 

He hadn’t been able to focus.

All he could think about was the boy who never showed up to the airport.

[Dean’s P.O.V.] 

Dean woke up next to his beautiful girlfriend, Lisa. He kissed her forehead before going to get some breakfast and heading to work in his '67 Chevy Impala. 

He worked at the mechanic shop he’d opened about ten years back. Around one, Lisa came and brought Dean lunch. Dean went on break and his phone started to ring. Kevin was calling, so he picked up. 

“Heya, Dean, did you hear?” Kevin asked.

“About what?” Dean asked, taking a bite of his sandwich and washing it down with a drink.

“The twenty-year high school reunion,” Kevin said, his voice far too normal for the bombshell he’d just dropped.

“Wait, what?”

“Sorry, gotta go,” Kevin said, and hung up.

“Will Cas be there--”

Dean stared at the silent phone, his mind racing. He had no idea why he had asked if Cas was going to be there, it had just come out. He wanted--no, he  _ needed _ to see him, but Cas most likely hated him.  _ For a good reason, you asshole,  _ Dean’s brain unhelpfully supplied.

His phone rang again, showing Gabe’s contact on the caller I.D.

“Hello?” Dean answered.

“Dean, you know about the reunion, right?” Gabe asked, his words rushed.

“Yeah, Kevin told me. Why?”

“You going?”

Dean bit his lower lip.  _ Cas.  _ “Most likely. Hey, Gabe?”

“Yeah, Dean-o?”

“Is Cas gonna be there?”  _ Please. Please. Please. Let me explain. _

“Gotta go, Dean-o. Tell your hot bro I said hi,” Gabe said.

“Gabe, is--”

Dean had now been hung up on twice and he was starting to get a bit pissed off.

“Really, Gabe? Really?” Dean muttered to himself, over and over. He eventually went back to work, throwing all of his brainpower into the cars, into finding the problem and fixing it. These problems he could fix. 

“Stop thinking about that,” Dean chided himself.

He closed up the shop at nine, wondering why he kept asking about Cas. He knew the answer but refused to admit it to himself.

Dean drove home. He turned on the radio and Back To The Start began to play.

“Are you kidding me?”

 


	3. two

July 26, 2016

[Cas’s P.O.V.]

Cas got there a few days before the reunion and stayed with Charlie. He had dug out his tux since it was formal, and was surprised when it still fit. Apparently he hadn’t grown much in twenty years. He and Charlie were going to go to the reunion together, and Kevin and Gabe had promised to be there as well.

Charlie, Gabe, and Kevin were secretly overjoyed. Their plan to get both Dean and Castiel back here was working so far. For the days leading up to the reunion, they plotted how to get the two together again, but all of the plans got shot down. 

Cas was not looking forward to this. 

Charlie was way too smiley and giggly. When he asked her what she was laughing at, she mysteriously smiled and refused to tell him anything.

Dread was settling in the pit of Cas’s stomach. 

At seven p.m., Cas couldn’t avoid the inevitable any longer. He got in the passenger seat of Charlie’s car and stared wistfully out the window the whole drive there, letting his imagination run wild with different ways these past twenty years could have turned out. He knew he was just making himself sad and vulnerable, but he couldn’t help it. 

As they were walking in, Cas spotted Anna, an old friend. He  _ really _ did not want to go inside, so he muttered some bullshit excuse to Charlie and went over to Anna. 

“What have you been doing the past twenty years?” he asked.

“Well, Cas,” Anna started. She almost glowed when she smiled. “You remember my boyfriend, Dante? We went to Venice and he kissed me under the stars in a gondola, then proposed to me.” Her smile looked like it could take on a life of its own and survive in the woods for several years. “Oh! I became a therapist for teenagers, and I have three best-sellers!”

“Anna, that is amazing. It’s so nice seeing you. Have fun,” Cas said. Charlie was waiting for him, and he hurried to catch up. 

_ It looks exactly the same,  _ Cas thought as he and Charlie made their way through the hallways. Noise coming from the gym told them that they should probably head in that direction. Cas took a deep breath and pushed opened the door, ready to make small talk with old classmates about what they had been doing in life.

He scanned the gym anxiously for Dean, but to his relief (or maybe he was sad, Cas had no idea anymore) the other man was nowhere to be seen.

 

[Dean’s P.O.V.]

“We’re thirty minutes late,” Lisa said, slightly worried.

“Fashionably late,” Dean argued.

She huffed.

Everyone was laughing and dancing to songs that were cool in 1996 when Dean pushed the doors open. He was in an AC/DC shirt and jeans and immediately felt underdressed.

Lisa was in a yellow knee-length dress and her lips were painted cherry red. She was holding onto Dean’s arm like she needed it to live and his fingers were going kind of numb.

Dean looked around, partly hopeful, partly scared.

Then he saw him.

Cas.

_ His _ Cas.

Cas was in a tux with a blue tie, his hair messed up as always, the blue of his eyes visible even at this low lighting level, this far away.

Lisa followed his line of sight and scowled when she saw Cas. She pulled Dean’s face down, connecting his lips with her own. Dean tried not to convey his disgust in the kiss, figuring that if he did, he was as good as dead.

After a very, very long fifty-three seconds (he didn’t count, he didn’t wish the whole time that it would be over faster, he totally didn’t count), Lisa pulled back and smiled over in Cas’s direction.

Dean couldn’t take his eyes off of Cas.

He was wearing the tux he’d been wearing the day they had gotten “married” and Dean attributed that to Charlie and Kevin. He smiled softly at the memory of that day and moved his hand to the amulet Sam had given him. The ring was hanging on there. He wondered if Cas still had his ring.

_ No, stupid. He hates you, because you were an asshole. Why would he still have it? _

Two hours passed. Dean lost himself in the dancing, in the rhythm, and could almost forget it was Lisa by his side instead of the one he really wanted there.

“Could the prom king and queen come up onstage?” the DJ asked. Dean swallowed. His mouth had suddenly gone dry.

Anna beamed at him as they made their way onto the stage. Dean had talked to her a couple times and he was pretty sure her grin had been surgically attached. 

The DJ handed them replicas of the crowns they had worn twenty years ago. 

“Would their dates from prom please come here as well, for a special dance?”

Anna’s husband joined her, and they slowly began to waltz around. 

Dean watched as Charlie literally shoved Cas up onstage. The latter was clearly uncomfortable, and Dean’s heart felt like it was constricting in his chest. He hadn’t meant to cause Cas any pain, hadn’t ever meant to hurt him. He had, though, and it made him feel like the biggest asshole in the world.

Cas didn’t say anything, and Dean shifted his weight nervously. 

“Right! Music!” the DJ said. “Whoops.”

_ Can’t Help Falling In Love With You _ started to play. 

Neither Dean nor Cas moved.

Finally, Dean couldn’t stand it any more. He grabbed Cas’s hand and they started to dance.

It was weird. They still hadn’t said anything to each other. But they remembered how to dance together perfectly.

Dean noticed the little things that Cas always used to do while they were slow dancing, like looking down every now and then and mouthing the lyrics.

He couldn’t help but draw Cas closer and closer until it wasn’t really appropriate any more, since, you know, Dean was dating Lisa.

As the song ended, Dean met Cas’s eyes one more, and he was so close that Dean couldn’t think.

He blamed that for what happened next.

Cas shifted imperceptibly closer, and that was all it took.

Dean bent down slightly ( _ god, he hasn’t grown in twenty years _ ) and kissed Cas, gently, for only a couple seconds. (Two. He didn’t count, he didn’t wish the whole thing would last an eternity, he totally didn’t count.)

Cas pulled back first, disbelief stark across his face and in his eyes, those blue eyes that Dean never fell out of love with.

Everyone was watching them.

Well, except for Sam and Gabe, who were making out in the corner. 

Charlie was bouncing up and down and Kevin had a genuine smile on his face.

Dean’s only thought was a never-ending loop of  _ oh, shit _ .


	4. three

[Sam’s P.O.V.]

Sam came to the reunion with Dean and Lisa. He wasn’t technically in this class and so shouldn’t really be there, but he just wanted to see the guy he’d been in love with since he was thirteen, Gabriel Novak. Sam was a lawyer and taking time off to come here in the hopes of something  _ finally _ happening.

Dean had sort of insisted on being half an hour late, much to Sam’s annoyance. He wanted to spend as much time with Gabe as possible, and a half hour might not seem like much, but to Sam, it was quite a long time. I mean, he’d been in love with the guy for years now and rarely saw him. 

Sam went into the school before Dean and Lisa, who were taking forever to walk up the sidewalk. He was cursing under his breath.

Gabe, Kevin, and Charlie were clustered in the corner, most likely talking about their plots to get Dean and Cas back together. Sam straightened his tie and walked up to them.

“Hey guys,” he said.  _ Casual, Sam. Keep it cool. _

“Hey, Sammy,” Gabe replied. He grinned at him and Sam melted a little.

“So how’re we gonna do this?” Charlie said, sparking the discussion again, and Kevin’s eyes lit up.

“Let’s ask the DJ to have the prom king and queen dance with their prom dates. That way, Dean and Cas will have to interact with each other.”

“Great idea,” Gabe said.

Charlie left to go flirt with an old girlfriend and Kevin went to go talk to the DJ and set up their plan. That left Gabe and Sam by themselves, and they suddenly couldn’t stop talking. 

Sam accidentally hogged the conversation, rambling on about his job as a lawyer. Gabe sort of stared at him the whole time, and he could feel the back of his neck getting hotter.

“So, um, Gabe, what’re you up to these days?” Sam asked, realizing that he had been talking  _ at _ the other man for around five minutes now.

“Well, Sammoose, I opened a candy shop,” Gabe said. The tension in his shoulders that appeared with that sentence dissolved when Sam burst out laughing. He was wearing a green and blue striped tie, in direct contrast to Sam’s business suit and black tie.

When Sam had gotten enough breath back to form words, he said, “So you, a candy-loving trickster, opened a candy shop. How perfect.”

“I guess I did,” Gabe said, his face positively lighting up when Sam gently hit his shoulder.

“Hey, Sam, Gabe,” Cas greeted, walking over. “There’s a problem.”

“What’s up, Cassie?” Gabe said, still chuckling.

“Dean will not stop looking at me,” Cas said apprehensively, glancing over his shoulder at Dean. 

“Well, go talk to him and leave us alone,” Gabe said.

Cas shot him a confused look.

“Shoo,” Gabe whispered, making shooing motions, and Sam’s heart started pounding in his ribcage.

Cas rolled his eyes but left Sam and Gabe alone.

“Uh, plan on explaining that?” Sam asked, twisting his hands together behind his back.

“I like spending time alone with you,” Gabe said simply, and Sam looked at him and moved closer, maybe on accident, maybe it was conscious.

Gabe licked his lips and then reached for Sam, pulling Sam down to his level and kissing him.

Sam smiled against Gabe’s lips and kissed him back with everything he had.

They only pulled apart when they heard cheering and saw their brothers in a soft, short kiss. Sam noted Dean running away and Lisa storming up to Cas, and he knew Gabe was watching as well.

In unison, he and Gabe said, “Oh, shit.”

  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back


	5. four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is short   
> i really do like Lisa   
> enjoy

[Third person P.O.V]

If looks could kill, Cas would be six feet under. Lisa looked absolutely livid.

“Should we do something?” Charlie asked Kevin, fiddling with the hem of her skirt.

“Yes, yes we should,” Kevin said, looking over towards the refreshments.

“Maybe we should give her a drink,” Charlie suggested, grinning in a slightly evil way.

Lisa straight-up invaded Cas’s personal space and wasted no time in yelling at him.

“You son of a bitch! I planned everything and even paid people to make sure I got Dean, and what do you do? Come in and screw everything up! I finally got the life I’d always wanted, but then you had to come and mess everything up, Novak. You will pay for this.” She was almost spitting in his face. “I was happy and had a good life, but you apparently couldn’t stand the thought of that! You can’t stand that I won! I got him! And--”

Kevin poured punch on her head. 

“THAT’S THE SECOND TIME,” Lisa screamed, and some people were ducking out the door, not wanting to deal with her meltdown. 

Sam and Gabe exchanged a glance. Gabe kissed Sam again quickly and then grabbed a cupcake and threw it at Lisa. He had shockingly poor aim, and Sam was the reason any cupcakes hit Lisa.

“That’s also the second time,” Gabe muttered, and Sam laughed, overcome with love for him.

Lisa gave up on attacking Cas and tried to walk away, but she tripped, and one of her six-inch heels broke.

“I hate you!” Lisa shouted as she staggered away, covered in cupcakes and punch, unsteady on only one heel.

“The feeling is mutual,” Cas called.

She flipped him off as the door closed behind her.

“What now?” Cas asked, turning back to his friends.

Kevin and Charlie climbed up on a table.

“Oh, you’re gonna love this,” Gabe whispered to Sam, his breath hot on Sam’s ear.

“Ding, dong, the bitch is dead,” Kevin and Charlie started. It was vaguely to the tune of “Ding, Dong, The Witch Is Dead.” Sam was already laughing. 

“Which old bitch? The bitch who broke an OTP!” Kevin and Charlie sang, and everyone burst out laughing. 

Kevin half-fell off the table while Charlie swung down gracefully.

“Hey, Cas, now you need to go find Dean,” Kevin said.

Cas swallowed. “Oh yeah. I guess I do.”

 


	6. five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whoops it's been a month 
> 
> enjoy

[Cas’s P.O.V.]

Cas left the gym to try and find Dean. It didn’t take a long time, as Dean was where he always had been--on the football field.

Dean was walking slow laps around the track and muttering to himself.

“I knew you would be here,” Cas said, and he was quiet, but Dean’s head snapped up anyway.

“Cas,” Dean breathed, and Cas’s chest constricted painfully.

“Hi,” he said simply.

“We should talk about this,” Dean said.

Cas was walking towards him, and Dean was standing still, awkwardly shifting his weight from foot to foot. Cas was painfully aware of each breath Dean took.

“Talk about what?” he asked, and then he couldn’t stop himself. The floodgates opened. “Talk about how you left me at the airport? About how you never contacted me? About how you shattered me? Do you want to talk about you dating Lisa? Or maybe about how you seemed to forget  _ us _ until a few minutes ago? Should we discuss that kiss? Hmm?”

He was so, so close to crying. He could feel the tears threatening at the back of his eyes.

If his face looked anything like Dean’s, he was absolutely crushed.

“Listen, ten minutes. Give me ten minutes to explain myself, please. I can tell you everything,” Dean pleaded. Cas hated the way his voice wavered when he was unsure like this.

“Fine.”

By some strange mutual agreement, they walked over to the team benches. Dean sat and sort of gestured to Cas to sit as well.

They both sat in the quiet for a little bit. Cas felt like he was about to burst.

“I still love you, Cas.”

Cas couldn’t help himself from snorting.

Dean’s green eyes were wide with the hope that Cas would understand. “No, really, I do. I never stopped. I still have the ring. I wanted to meet you at the airport so bad. I wanted a life with you.”

If he had more to say, Cas wasn’t going to listen to it.

“Dean, if you had ever loved me, why the hell did you leave?” he asked, and he was probably louder than he meant to be, because Dean recoiled. “Why did you leave me? Why did you choose Lisa over me?”

“I didn’t  _ want _ to leave you!” Dean shouted. “And I sure as hell don’t love Lisa. She made me choose her, or else the person I’ve been in love with since I was thirteen was going to get seriously hurt, or...or worse…”

“What?”

Cas was dumbfounded.  _ Seriously hurt? _

“Lisa’s always been in love with me. You remember that she tried to break us up so many times in high school?”

“Vividly,” Cas muttered. 

“So, at the airport…” Dean’s voice trailed off. “Let me just explain.”

Flashback [Dean’s P.O.V]

Dean had packed up all of his stuff and actually gotten to the airport early, a near miracle for him. He didn’t want Cas to get mad at him for being late, as he usually was. 

A man, glancing shiftily around, came up to him.

“You Dean Winchester?”

“Why you wanna know?” Dean fired back.

“It would be in your best interests to answer the question.”

“Yes, I am. Who’s asking?” Dean said, starting to get scared. The man was incredibly intimidating.

“The name’s Lucifer, and I’m here to give you a message from a certain Miss Lisa Braden.”

“What do you want to tell me, Satan?” Dean asked, only partly joking.

“You can’t go with your little boyfriend.”

_ What? _

“You have to start dating Lisa, or else,” Lucifer finished, smiling like...well, the devil.

“Excuse me?” Dean said. “You want me to stop dating the man I’m in love with and start dating the girl who stalks me?” Lucifer nodded. “What the hell? Or else what?”

“Castiel will get two options. I can either kill him, or torture him until he wishes he was dead. Most people choose the second option, for some strange reason. Perhaps they think they can survive long enough to escape.” Lucifer leaned in close. “Nobody ever survives.”

“So I stay and he dies, or I can leave and he lives?” Dean asked, his mind reeling. 

“You’re picking this up quite well!” Lucifer cheered.

Dean didn’t know what to do. 

Leaving Cas, with no explanation, would shatter both of them.

But death sounded worse. 

_ I love him too much to let him get hurt _ , Dean thought. He picked up his bag. “Where do I meet Lisa?”

He hated himself in that moment, absolutely despised himself. 

A single tear fell onto his cheek as Lucifer led him away.

Present day [third person P.O.V.]

“So, Cas, you don’t have to believe me, but I do still love you. Honestly, I never stopped.”

Cas didn’t look at Dean, and Dean’s stomach dropped to his shoes. 

“I...I do believe you, actually. You left for my sake, so I could live, and I really can’t blame you for that. You just wanted me to be happy, and while I wasn’t exactly happy, just blank, I was alive. So I’ve just got one thing to say to you.” Cas paused.

Dean held his breath.

“You’re an idiot,” Cas whispered, and his voice was so close to breaking that it physically hurt Dean. “The biggest effing idiot in existence.”

“I know,” Dean said, and just like it had all those years ago, a single tear fell out of his eye.

“We did the same thing we did to Lisa at prom, before I came out here,” Cas said, and Dean nodded wordlessly.

“Why did you kiss me?” Cas asked after an awkward few moments of silence.

“Because I’m in love with you,” Dean said, shrugging.

“I’m in love with you too,” Cas said.

“Um. When I kissed you, Cas, it was too short, way too short…” Dean trailed off, but Cas picked up on his thoughts.

“We should fix that,” Cas said in a low voice that sent shivers down Dean’s spine.

He pulled Dean in for a long, long kiss. Neither of them wanted to move away, and Dean was lightheaded when they finally broke apart to breathe.

“You know our brothers were making out in the corner of the gym, right?” Dean said.

“Yes, I saw them, sadly,” Cas replied, and they both started laughing.

“Should we go back inside? Tell them we’re back together?” Dean asked after several long minutes of making out.

“Probably,” Cas admitted.

He interlaced his fingers with Dean’s as they re-entered the gym.

Charlie ran up to them, closely followed by Gabe and Sam, who were also holding hands, and Kevin nearly ran Charlie over trying to get to the door.

“What happened? Did you get back together?” Charlie asked.

Dean looked shyly at Cas. Cas had never seen him so unsure. “Yes,” he responded, and Dean broke into a huge grin.

Everyone cheered.

Gabe spoke up. “Dean, I’m dating your younger brother. Is that okay?”

“Finally,” Dean said, winking at Sam, who blushed furiously.

They danced their hearts out until midnight, when the reunion ended. 

“Shit, we’ve only got one car,” Charlie realized.

“Sam can sit on my lap,” Gabe offered, and Sam smacked him in the back of the head. “Ow!”

Somehow, all six of them crammed into Charlie’s car and started the drive home.

Out of nowhere, Cas said, “I still have the ring. It’s on my side table.”

“What?” Dean asked, not allowing himself to hope that Cas meant what he thought he meant.

“You’ve got yours around your neck, and I usually keep mine on my side table, by my bed, but I brought it here on a whim, and now it’s in my hand.”

The entire car, cramped as it was, was completely still. You could’ve heard a pin drop.

Cas had just offered something huge, and Dean was not about to let this go away again.

“Castiel Novak, I love you with all that I am. Will you marry me? Again?”

“Yes,” Cas murmured, feeling like he was going to cry again, only from happiness this time. Finally, finally, finally, he was happy.

Dean took the ring from Cas’s hand and slid it onto his finger. Cas did the same for Dean, and then Cas laid his head on Dean’s shoulder and Dean hugged him close.

Nobody noticed Sam and Gabe making out in the backseat, so when Sam came up for air and asked to be dropped off at a motel, Dean started laughing.

“Oh, absolutely,” Kevin said.

“Just don’t ruin my car before we get there,” Charlie teased, and Sam scowled in embarrassment.

“She’s right,” Gabe muttered in Sam’s ear, and Sam hit him again, but gently this time. Teasing.

“Gabriel, I swear to God--”

Gabe just grinned and kissed him again.

After dropping off Sam and Gabe, and taking Kevin home, Charlie finally drove back to her house.

“Change the sheets if anything happens,” Charlie said, and Dean rolled his eyes while Cas blushed.

“Shut up. Nothing’s gonna happen.”

“I’ve seen the way you two look at each other,” Charlie said, and laughed before escaping Dean’s wrath and going to bed.

Cas made Dean turn around while he changed out of his suit. Dean complained the entire time. “It’s nothin’ I haven’t seen before, Cas--”

Cas threw a pillow at him without looking, and the muffled thump and indignant shriek from Dean told him that he’d hit his target.

Dean put on sweatpants and took off his t-shirt, then crawled under the covers to wait for Cas, whose clothing had been a bit more intricate. 

Eventually Cas flopped down next to Dean. The latter almost instantly captured his lips in a kiss, and they kissed and kissed, losing track of time, forgetting everything except each other. Cas’s hands felt like fire on Dean’s bare skin. God, he couldn’t get enough of him.

After a while, Cas made the mistake of looking over at the clock, and winced. “I need to sleep. I’m leaving tomorrow.”

Dean blinked. “What?”

“I’m a pediatrician in New York, and my vacation days are basically over,” he said. Dean pouted. He was unfairly adorable when he did that. 

“Okay, sleep well, darling,” Dean said, pressing a kiss to Cas’s forehead. He realized that if he and Cas were going to get married, then Cas would have to come here or Dean would go to New York.

_ Cas’s dream had always been to move to New York and become a doctor, and he did _ , Dean thought, looking fondly over at Cas. Cas had fallen asleep, and his hair was perfectly messy.

Dean was dead tired, but he drove over to Lisa’s house and packed up all of his stuff. 

“Dean, no, don’t do this, you love me, you really do, he’s a spirit and has got you under his spell--”

“I don’t give a damn if he does!” Dean shouted. “It’d be much better to be under a spell than stuck with you!”

Lisa looked hurt and Dean momentarily felt bad, then remembered why he had anything in this house in the first place.

“I hope you burn in hell, bitch,” Dean spat.

He left, slamming the door behind him.

His eyes closed immediately when he slipped in bed next to Cas.


	7. six

August 10, 2016

[Dean’s P.O.V.]

“Dean, put on this blindfold and get in the car,” Charlie ordered.

“Charlie, what are you doing here?” Dean asked. It was a good question--he didn’t know why she would be in New York.

“Don’t ask questions. Just do it.” Charlie handed him the blindfold and Dean reluctantly complied. 

Dean knew what was about to happen, so he didn’t complain, but he did wish that he didn’t have to wear a blindfold. Again.

Charlie drove him to a nice place in the park that was near Cas and Dean’s house. “I’m gonna get out of the car, and then you’re gonna change into your suit,” she said.

“Can I take the blindfold off?”

“Oh, yeah, sure. Hurry up, though. We’re late.”

Dean changed, kind of wishing that they didn’t have to have a big ceremony. He just wanted to legally marry Cas.

Once Dean was in his suit and it was mostly straightened out, he got out of the car. The setup was the exact same as last time, except Cas wasn’t there.

Worry snaked its way into Dean’s stomach.

Thankfully, another car drove up, and Cas got out of it, escorted by Same, Gabe, Kevin, and an unfamiliar guy. Everyone else seemed to recognize the stranger.

“Hello, you must be Dean,” the man greeted. “I’m Chuck. Your friends contacted me and said you would like to get married but couldn’t find anyone. Well, today I’m here to legally marry you.”

Dean nodded, slightly speechless. “So you’re gonna marry me and Cas? Legally this time?”

A giggle ran through the crowd. “Yes.”

“What are we waiting for?” Dean asked, and everyone laughed again.

The boring part of the ceremony was over quickly. Dean couldn’t tear his eyes away from Cas, who seemed almost shy to be the subject of such intense staring.

“Do either of you have personal vows or should we go with traditional?” Chuck asked, and Dean started paying attention again.

Cas cleared his throat. “Personal, thanks. I’ll go first this time since you went first last time.”

Dean held his breath.

“Dean, you are my best friend, my partner in crime, the love of my life...all that ridiculous cliched stuff, it works for us. I never want to spend a minute apart ever again. The first time we did this, I thought I could never love you any more, but I was wrong, because I love you so much more now. I spent so long thinking of that disaster at the airport that I made myself think you didn’t love me, and I sincerely regret that.

“Dean, I know I get to say this every day, but I love you, and I always will. I never want to stop loving you and know I never will stop loving you. So thank you, for being there for me. Always.” Cas swallowed. “That was all over the place and sounded way better in my head,” he admitted, and Dean laughed, filled with love for the man in front of him. 

“Castiel, I have a limit on sappy chick flick speeches, but for you, I have sappy chick flick moments every day, and I honestly don’t mind it, for some strange reason. I really, really, really love you. And I’d like to thank our friends, because they’re the reason we’re here today. One, they locked us in a closet for hours until we told each other our feelings in high school, and two, they forced us to go to that reunion. If they didn’t, we wouldn’t be here right now.

“Castiel, we may not have tomorrow, and I don't care as long as I get to spend today with you. I would happily die tomorrow if it meant I got to spend today in your arms. I can’t tell you how much I love you."

Chuck pronounced them officially married. “You may kiss,” he invited, but Cas’s lips were already on Dean’s.

They danced the night away in the park, lit by strands of white Christmas lights. Cas and Dean never left each other’s side.

When everyone started to leave, Dean and Cas stayed in the park, sitting on a bench. Dean was pretending not to noticed Sam and Gabe making out on a nearby bench.

“I love you,” Cas said, nestling his head on Dean’s shoulder.

“I know,” Dean whispered, kissing the top of Cas’s head. 

Dean’s hand found Cas’s and this, right here, this was peace. This was all that mattered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well this was fun and feels-pack. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it, thanks for reading!


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